substances oblood dope? >> yes. that's a stoic seeming lance armstrong trying to salvage what's left of his reputation and stage another comeback. he tells some of the truth, at least, to oprah slowly. good morning. this is "way too early," the show that believes for every banned substance there's an unbanned one that's just as good. thanks for getting up with us early this friday, january 18th. a lot to cover today, including the ongoing hostage situation in the middle of the sahara desert. there's an unspecified number of americans that remain held there after a failed rescue attempt. plus, we have a spanking new nbc news/wall street journal poll. this is fresh terrain for gun control advocates. the question is, will poll numbers affect the issue. first, one of the longest running lies in the history of sports is now at least partially over. there's no doubt that lance armstrong's remarkable journey of comeback and triumph was a fraudulent fairy tale. in that interview with oprah

winfrey aired last night, the disgraced seven-time tour de france winner confessed repeatedly to cheating throughout his cycling career. he showed little emotion throughout the interview. armstrong explained why he didn't consider himself a cheater while he was taking a cocktail of drugs and blood transfusions. >> was it a big deal to you? did it feel wrong? >> at the time? >> uh-huh. >> no. >> it did not even feel wrong? >> no. it's scary. >> did you feel bad about it? >> no. even scarier. >> did you feel in any way that you were cheating? >> no. the scariest. i have this exercise where, you know, because i kept hearing -- >> that you were a cheat. >> i'm a cheat. i'm a cheater. i went in and looked up the

definition of cheat. >> yes. >> the definition of cheat, it's to gain an advantage on a rival or foe that they don't have. i didn't do it that way. i viewed it as a level playing field. >> all right. so as part of this wide-ranging interview, oprah also asked armstrong about the lives he ruined in order to maintain his cover-up, including the story of emma o'riley, his former masseuse. >> what do you want to say about emma o'riley? >> hey, she -- she's one of these people that i have to apologize to. she's one of these people that got run over, got bullied. >> isn't she -- you sued her.

>> to be honest, oprah, we sued so many people, i'm sure we did. >> you were suing pee ining peo you know they're telling the truth. what is that? >> it's a major flaw, and it's a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted and to control every outcome. and it's inexcusable. when i say there are people that will hear this and will never forgive me, i understand that. >> all right. joining us now to break this all down is sports editor for the nation. also the author of the new book "game over." so dave, a lot of questions. i believe that was part one of the interview. what was left either unasked or unanswered as part of oprah's colloquy with lance armstrong? >> well, i think the thing

that's been unanswered that lance armstrong needs to do is am i human? do i have a heart in my chest? do i have actual warm blood coursing through my veins? this was a disaster of both form and content. in terms of form, lance armstrong came across as being cold, calculating, emotionless, particularly when he spoke about the lives that he has affected and the lives he has hurt. in terms of content, i mean, this was the part that really floored me. i thought beforehand, lance armstrong had a difficult task because he needed to do two things simultaneously. he needed to show the united states anti-doping agency that he was willing to play ball with them, that he was willing to be repentant. and he needed to get across to the american people that he felt sorry, that he felt bad about what he did in order to restore his reputation. he really did neither of those

things. he rejected the core of the anti-doping agency report that he bullied other riders into doping. that he led a ring of bikers who doped in the sport. yet, at the same time, he admitted to bullying people in terms of lawsuits. he admitted to bullying people, as he said, into making sure he could control the narrative. i mean, rick riley, for espn, he described it like watching a hitman for the mob pick his teeth while talking about the people he killed. i don't think that's a good night for lance armstrong. >> all right. so again, dave, in a short phrase, is the next step for the authorities to react to it, or does armstrong have more to do to make the case he should be able to compete again? >> oh, my goodness. he has a lot more to do. his fate is held in the hands of usada. there's a lifetime ban over his head. i've spoken to people close to lance armstrong. they said that's the primary reason for coming forward, is that he wants to be a competitive triathlete.

all of those events are controlled by usada. yet, usada has said, if you want to come back in, you need to actually admit that that our 15 years of research into your past, you need to admit that the people who testified under oath that you bullied them, you need to say that's true. he actually, instead of that, he drew a line last night with oprah winfrey and said, no, it's not true. i did not bully people into doing anything they didn't want to do. i may have bullied people who accused me of things, which doesn't make him very sympathetic, but i didn't do anything in terms of facilitating doping in cycling. i think that's what's going to trip him up going forward. >> all right. stick around. we're going to come back a little later in the program and talk to you about the manti te'o hoax. thanks. other news overseas in north africa. we're learning more details about the hostage situation, where americans were among dozens of the people captured. the algerian government says a

number of those hostages have been freed after special forces came in on a raid. there are also a number of unknown casualty this morning. the status of the americans involved in this is still unconfirmed. a lot of the facts are unknown. meanwhile, governments from all over the world are expressing concern about the way the algerian government has handled the situation. nbc's stephanie gosk has more on how all of this unfolded. >> reporter: using tanks and helicopters, the algerian military launched an operation on their own to retake the remote gas field from the militants and free the hostages, including at least three americans. algeria says it's over, but details are few and casualty reports vary widely from a few dead to dozens. u.s. officials are saying little about the operation or the american hostages. >> because of the fluidity and the fact that there is a lot of planning going on, i cannot give you any further details at this

time. >> reporter: the militants attacked the sprawling gas facility in the remote sahara wednesday morning, taking dozens of the foreign and algerian hostages. confirming al ge ining algeria' to take the facility, british prime minister david cameron did not sound hopeful. >> i think we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility of bad news ahead. >> reporter: several hostages did manage to escape. one called his family in ireland. >> it's like winning the lottery. i just feel so sorry for everybody else that's still out there. >> reporter: the group claiming responsibility calls itself the signatories of blood brigade, founded by a former afghan jihadist. his group has made tens of millions of dollars kidnapping westerners and trading them for large ransoms. >> what does that say about their capabilities? >> they're heavily armed. they have affiliates all over the place. they have supporters in europe and other countries. if that isn't a mix we should be concerned about, i don't know

what is. >> reporter: a spokesman for the group called the attack retribution for the conflict in mali. french forces have intervened there to stop islamic militants from taking over mali and making it a terrorist base. >> people here have been flying the french flag to celebrate the military intervention. overwhelmingly, they want the islamists gone, and they welcome the operation to save them from life under an oppressive regime. >> reporter: france continues to press ahead in mali, bringing in more troops. the hostage drama in algeria is a reminder that islamic extremism knows no border. >> that's the great stephanie gosk of nbc news reporting. the president is preparing to introduce new gun legislation. new polling shows where the nation stands. 56% of americans are in favor of more gun regulation. 7% say the current regulations

are too strict. 35% say laws are just right. vice president joe biden still very involved in the effort to get more movement on the gun control legislation. he met with 270 mayors from around the country trying to get them as part of a coalition urging them to help build public support for the president's new proposals. >> there's some who say the most powerful voice in this debate belong to the gun lobbyists and those who demand a stop to these common sense approaches to save lives. i think they're wrong. this time will not be like times that have come before. newtown has shocked the nation. we're going to take this fight to the halls of congress. we're going to take it beyond that. we're going to take it to the american people. we're going to go around the country making our case and let the voices of the american

people be heard. >> the vice president often touts the fact he's the owner of two shotguns. he's making the case against high capacity magazines. >> high capacity magazines don't have a practical sporting purpose or hunting purpose. as one hunter told me, if you have 12 rounds, it means you've already missed the deer 11 times. you should pack the sucker in at that point. you don't deserve to have a gun, period. you're that bad. >> all right. more from the nbc news wall street journal poll on the nra. national rifle association at the center of this debate. doing well in the poll in terms of public opinion. more people support the nra. in fact, as you see there, than they do hollywood and the entertainment industry. on the other hand, new jersey's governor chris christie spoke out against the nra and their latest ad campaign. >> to talk about the president's children or any public officer's

children who have, not by their own choice, but by requirement, to have protection and to use that somehow to try to make a political point i think is reprehensible. i think it's off to bring public figures' children into the political debate. they don't deserve to be there. i think for any of us who are public figures you see that kind of ad and you cringe. >> all right. as we head into the weekend, the big story in washington, this sunday just before noon, president obama scheduled to take the oath of office for his second term in the white house. that private swearing in ceremony will be followed by the public inauguration on monday. the president and congress not doing exactly equal in the eyes of the american people. the president, 52% approve of the job he's doing. 44% disapprove. that's pretty much where he was around election day. for the second month in a row, though, the president is right side up in terms of his handling

of the economy. about equal but doing a little better. meanwhile meanwhile, 14% of americans approve of congress. 49% hold a negative view of the republican party. that's the lowest the gop has been since 2008. 38% view the democratic party negatively. and take note, everybody. monday the "morning joe" crew will be in d.c. on capitol hill. special coverage of president obama's inauguration. everything will kick off here at 5:30 a.m. eastern time monday with a special edition of "way too early." as always, you can let us know why you're awake right now. shoot us an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc.com. or you can tweet m me @markhalperin. still ahead, the hoax heard around the sport world. manti te'o exercises his right to remain silent, but there are new details coming up from his

past interviews that are being made public. the question is, who was the real victim of the deception? was it te'o or the fans? plus, stephen colbert weighs in on the president's backdrop when announces new gun proposals. that and a check on the weather when "way too early" comes right back. police handcuffed the mayor and had medical technicians check his heart and blood pressure. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. so you say men are superior drivers?

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barnacle's fabled dome. you have a fabled dome, dude. we're going to check out the weather now with nbc meteorologist, a man with his own dome -- >> i would never pick on barnacle. >> celebration. national treasure. >> i'm getting trashed around here every day this week. >> it's what we used call at cnn cross fire. >> bill, there's snow in the south. >> there was a little snow in the south. not enough for the kids to go sledding. d.c. got robbed. atlanta didn't get anything either. richmond and raleigh. some of that snow barely clipping cape cod this morning. that's about it. you may see snow showers around new york city or philadelphia this morning. that's really about. now, this arctic blast of air coming down from the north, it will settle in over the great lakes this weekend. on sunday, especially getting very cold in areas like detroit, chicago, minnesota will be frigid along with wisconsin. then it's going to sweep into new england by the time we get to tuesday or wednesday. just keep that in mind. it's going to get very cold. coldest air of the season in

areas like chicago. in other words, enjoy today. enjoy what's going to happen over saturday. after that we get a lot colder in many spots. as far as the forecast goes, one last mild day today from denver to kansas city. again, that frigid air will be heading even to d.c. by the time we get to monday. inauguration looks to be windchills in the 20s. four years ago, windchills were in the teens. a little better. >> so top hats and overcoats. >> you wear that, i'll be impressed. >> i'm going as lincoln. bill, thank you very much. now from weather to sports, skipping over traffic. the only story that could possibly share shelf space with the lance armstrong confessional is the bizarre hoax involving the heisman trophy runner up, mr. manti te'o and his alleged girlfriend who never existed. going to bring back the sports editor for the nation. what's the latest that's gone on late last night and overnight? what do we know about what notre

dame is doing? >> well, the latest with manti te'o is silence. with each day of silence comes more questions. it's like you know very well from politics, usually the cover-up is far more damaging than the crime. yesterday there were reports that manti te'o was going to do a press conference. that was scuddled. then an interview on espn. that was scuddled. now he's inside a compound where he's preparing for the nfl draft. you have reporters camped outside as if it's some sort of situation outside an embassy. what's going on with manti te'o? it's getting so much attention. as you referenced, this is the most bizarre story i've ever seen in sports. i've never seen anything like this. and notre dame's posture on this makes it even more of a story. they have decided even though manti te'o's story of a three-year relationship with somebody he never met and that

he's the victim of a hoax, as unbelievable as that is, notre dame has decided to put not half an inch of daylight between them and the validity of that story. >> so you said he's considering doing an interview. obviously, notre dame is answering a lot of questions. they say that te'o got a call telling him his girlfriend was not dead on december 6th. two days later, he talked about her death when he did an interview on espn radio. he brought it up voluntarily on the day of the heisman. >> my coaches, you know, when the tragedy struck that hit me september 12th, they were always there. they were the first ones that were there. they were always there -- they were calling me every minute poft dof the day making sure everything was okay and i was holding up well. there's a reason why my father sent me to notre dame. that was one of them. >> all right. i'm throwing you a curveball. what were this guy's proprospects before? what are they now? >> i think they're dropping like

a stone. before this he was pegged to go number six to the buffalo bills. i think it's going to drop. his position is middle linebacker. that's supposed to be the quarterback of the defense. it depends as much on trust and on the ability to lead as physical skill. maybe if he was an outside linebacker or a corner back, some position that relies just on physicality, nobody would care. if you're a corner back and have a wrap sheet as long as my arm, you could get drafted in the top ten. middle linebacker is a different kettle of fish. this is definitely going to hurt him going forward. >> all right, dave. thank you very much. you got up early with us. people should be reading your book. it's called "game over." dave, thanks so much. coming up here at the top of the hour on "morning joe," go back to lance armstrong. he's now been told to give back his olympic medal after admitting he used those performance enhancing drugs for years. the "morning joe" crew is going to break that down and bat it

around and talk about what's become an epidemic of cheating in sports. "way too early" comes right back. um... try the number one! yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] over a third of a day's fiber. fiber one.

if you, like me, are sick and fed up with real news, join me around the electronic water cooler where we talk about an event from earlier. week. president obama with school children standing behind him signed an executive order meant to curb gun violence. nice scene. some conservative pundits and

their lead eer stephen come betr not impressed. >> obama knew his gun grab was going to pass the smell test, so he stooped to surround himself with children. like this confused boy joey. he loves trains. folks, it was a transparent appeal to our humanity. luckily, rush limbaugh doesn't have any. >> obama uses kids as human shields. he brings these kids supposedly who wrote letters to the white house after newtown, bring them up there to present a picture of support among the children. you got these little kids there. they don't want to die. [ crying noises ] how can you not listen to them? >> you are being manipulated, america. >> o

oh, boo-hoo. i want to the go to disney land. i want a pony. i want to live to see another day. grow up. oh, i want to grow up. >> all right. still ahead on "way too early," we ask the famous question, why are you possibly awake? your tweets, texts, and e-mails are next. "morning joe," you can feel it moments away. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque.

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